Hi Sally,

Yes, deep breathing is good. I need to do that. Thanks the the reminder.

hi Doc, I'm so sorry to hear you're feeling like MS is winning the battle... you said one thing that I feel I really must comment on:
Work has been very stressful lately and I feel like I can barely function sometimes

I was dx in August of 2000 and went back to work the end of September 2000; I eventually got fired from that job and within a couple of months had another job; the stress went up and down at the first job but went from constant to worse on the second; I got fired from the second job in April 2004 and applied for SSD as the stress was causing exacerbation's of my symptoms, increasing cog fog, mental/emotional/physical fatigue I could never catch up to... I went on disability in August 2004 and over the next couple of years felt dramatically better across the board and it showed up in my bi-yearly neuro exams too--within 2 years my disability scale went from 3.5 to 0...

So, until I got fired and went on disability = no job stress, I felt like my MS was winning too. Is there any possibility you could apply for SSD and stop working? I don't know what kind of work you do, but I know my line of work could be terribly stressful and as much as I loved it, I had to stop working.

We all know stress is one of our enemies and I hope you can find a way to eliminate some and feel better~

D0ct0rT

We may lose some of our battles to MS but we will always win the war! muhahaha!

I'm sorry this disease is being so unfair to you and I'm sorry I have no advice to give.
BUT
I do have plenty of HUGS (the fun kind, not painful kind )

i really understand the work issue and how hard it can be to push at your job til you can't do it any better. i had to quit my nursing profession of 35 yrs in '05 after at least a yr of pushing til i thought my job was killing me. my BP was thru the roof from the physical effort of it all. it was just too physically demanding. and then there was the cognitive. that's when i really knew i had to leave.

try to look at each problem and see if you can find an answer to it. you will
probably have to do this with your dr.

checking the B vits and vit D is very important. can you take something for the fatigue? and there may even be something that might help your cognition.
is there anything that would help you that you could change at your job?
if your employer knows you have MS there might be some reasonable accommodation they could grant you to help. that's the law under the americans with disabilities act.

please let us know how you are.

Hi NurseNancy,

Yes maam, I take vit D but do not take B. What does B do for us? I already stopped private practice to reduce stress after all of the above but still I keep getting worse and worse. I've tried Provigil and Nuvigil and now I eat sunflower seeds to keep my awake. My new boss required me to work 40 hours so I added another day (10 hour days) and I saw a good number of private practice on my other day. I'd love to cut back to work less hours but if it's up to her, I doubt she'll agree to it. We can never know unless we ask but I'll tell you, she's doing everything she can to make it hard on me. My boss believe she is above the U.S. laws but I can't really tell you more about why she believes that. Things can get better. They can.

I'd find a new boss!!

As of yesterday I guess that boss has been terminated. I feel bad for her but feel SO much better at work right now.

I started taking B-12 several weeks ago and have noticed a HUGE difference in the way I feel, my ability to stay awake during the day and my stamina.

It's very important to take the Methylcobalamin (Methyl B-12). Here is a link where I purchase mine.....http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas...enges/117?at=0. Their instructions say to take one every 3 or 4 days but I take one tablet every morning. First thing before I eat or drink anything. It's very important to take this particular supplement on an empty stomach. It has helped me more than I even imagined it would. That along with the D3 is a great combination.

Like NurseNancy I pushed myself to work until I couldn't do it any more. I felt better after quitting, although it took some time. But I know how "thin" life is when you lose a career that was meaningful. I had a husband then, though, so I had something to live for, and we did some traveling. The stress that finally "got" me was when they put in a new rug and rug pad which was toxic. My brain went dead, not a helpful condition for a teacher. I quit the next day...I'd already taken time off over the years and I knew I could not keep doing it. The other teachers resented it. I looked healthy, they could not possibly understand a person whose neurological condition caused various forms of near-paralysis which came and went, and went completely away, and then came back....I had no dx, but got it right after that. Social worker who did cognitive function said I was suicidal. I do not think i was, just so so sad at giving up a career I was good at, and of course also having severe neurological impairment (got the private disability immediately, tested by physiatrist, took 3 years to get Social Security).

It is only natural, Doc, to have a very bad time working when you have MS, so don't criticize yourself. I don't say you ARE criticizing yourself, just don't fall into that pit.

Hi AynaDee. Thank you for the hug.